“TUNE IT! SAFE!” BMW i8 Coupé police car is already driving safely into the 2019 season on the new sporty Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3

• - Hankook Tire and Renault Sport Racing enter a long-term partnership for the “Formula Renault Eurocup” racing series
• - Starters of the series will be equipped with Hankook Tire’s Ventus Race (F200 Slick/ Z217 Rain)
• - Rookies will have the chance to win racing tyres and the “Hankook Tire Trophy”

“TUNE IT! SAFE!” stands for safety in tuning. The initiative by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure and the Verband der Automobil Tuner e.V. (VDAT - Association of German Automotive Tuners) has been supported by Hankook Tire, main sponsor and exclusive tire partner, since 2005. The new police car was presented by the Hankook Tire management on the Press Day at this year’s Essen Motor Show: a BMW i8 Coupé, fitted with Hankook Tire’s new Ultra High Performance tires (UHP).

December XX, 2018 (Seoul, Korea) - The new campaign vehicle for the “TUNE IT! SAFE!” initiative was unveiled at the VDAT stand on the Press Day at this year’s Essen Motor Show. Following the classic tuning concepts of the past few years (VW Golf-R - 2018, Ford Mustang - 2017), this year a hybrid sports car rolled onto the stage - a BMW i8 Coupé. With its new Ventus S1 evo 3 tires, it is the fourth BMW in the history of TUNE IT! SAFE! campaign ambassadors.

Roland Hehner, Head of Product and Tuning at Hankook Tire Germany, confirms: “Hankook Tire’s products are well known for their powerful performance, which makes them very popular with tuners as well. It is important that the focus remains on driving pleasure. But Hankook also takes its social responsibility seriously and as a company always promotes safe and legal tuning. The new campaign vehicle and the related TUNE IT! SAFE! project demonstrate how exemplary tuning can be implemented.”

The striking shape and design of the BMW i8 Coupé are the distinctive features of the current best-selling hybrid sports car in the world. For the tuning community, components from AC Schnitzer among others are setting new benchmarks: a complete wheel set, a carbon aerodynamic kit, vehicle springs set and aluminium pedals round off the sports car’s tuning package. This also applies for the UHP tires from Hankook Tire – the new Ultra High Performance flagship for passenger cars and SUVs, the Ventus S1 evo 3, in the fitted sizes 245/35 R21 on the front axle and 285/30 R21 on the rear are a good example for exemplary tuning in the spirit of the initiative.

As the manufacturer of a car component which is especially safety-related and always ranks among the top 10 most popular tuning measures, the premium tire maker feels very strongly about the TUNE IT! SAFE! campaign. The initiative by the Federal Department of Transport and the Association of German Car Tuners, which has been sponsored by Hankook Tire from the very beginning and supported by further industrial and institutional partners, is already in its fourteenth year and is now the epitome for safe and legal optimization of vehicles.

Not only is the BMW i8 police car is safe on the road with the sporty Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3 tires, the multi-award-winning Ventus UHP flagship tires of the Ventus line – S1 evo. S1 evo2 and S1 evo2 SUV – have been impressively convincing for quite some time as original fitment tires on further BMW models and are also factory-fitted by other vehicle manufacturers including Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volkswagen.

The focus on Hankook Tire’s stand is on the comprehensive and further completed Ultra High Performance range. It covers the sectors of particularly high-performance original fitment and retrofit wide-base tires through to UHP road versions for especially sporty SUVs. The new UHP tire Ventus S1 evo 3 will be seen on European roads from spring 2019 onwards.